This paper uses a vulnerability-based approach to analyze the evolution of the middle class in Europe between 2005-08 and 2015-18. The analysis reveals that, on average, the income level needed to ensure a low probability of falling into poverty-also understood as the vulnerability...

This paper uses a rich set of geo-coded administrative and remotely sensed data on more than 1 million agricultural land transactions in Ukraine to explore how informality, size, and recent land reforms affect land prices. Three main findings are highlighted. First, absence of registered rights...

Despite far-reaching banking sector reforms over the past few years, financial intermediation in Tajikistan continues to lag behind structural peers and the Caucasus and Central Asia region. At the same time, bank interest rate spreads, a standard measure of financial intermediation costs, have...

This paper estimates the number of firms in Africa, considering their size and formal status. It relies on a novel methodology that combines multiple data sources. The results suggest that in 2020, there were 12.7 million firms with more than one worker, and more than 230 million own-account...

This study examines the impact of temperature uncertainty on firm fixed capital growth using a unique dataset that merges extensive firm-level financial data with detailed grid-level weather data. The analysis reveals a strong negative relationship between temperature uncertainty and fixed...

This study evaluates the impact of an intimate partner violence prevention program in Rwanda, using a randomized controlled trial. The 22-week couples training program aimed to improve communication, shift gender attitudes, and promote gender equality. Randomizing at both the village and couple...

This paper summarizes the approach used to estimate monetary poverty for Pakistan in 2019-20 at the district level. The small area estimation method is used to impute welfare from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2018-19 into the Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey...

This paper examines the dynamics of poverty in Bhutan between 2017 and 2022, utilizing cross-sectional data from the Bhutan Living Standards Surveys. The paper constructs synthetic panels and estimates poverty transition probabilities. Three main findings emerge. First, poverty turnover in...

This paper uncovers new stylized facts on the emergence and diffusion of green technologies across countries, sectors, and firms. It draws on the textual analysis of patents and corporate earnings calls matched with multi-country, firm-level panel data for 2012-2021. The paper documents the...

Over the past few decades, fiscal policy has been about 30 percent more procyclical and about 40 percent more volatile in commodity-exporting emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) than in other EMDEs. Both procyclicality and volatility of fiscal policy-which share some underlying...